


Embodied

by speccygeekgrrl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-05
Updated: 2010-05-05
Packaged: 2017-10-09 08:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speccygeekgrrl/pseuds/speccygeekgrrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel doesn't really know what the hell he's doing when he decides to run away from the heavenly host.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Embodied

At first, he wonders what he's even doing.

Gabriel's probably the angel with the most experience taking human form-- being the Messenger isn't something you can do when the sound of your voice bursts eardrums and the sight of you burns the eyes right out of mortal heads-- and still he doesn't know what he's doing, exactly, trying to hide from the heavenly host amongst the masses of humanity. He starts off near what will one day be the city of Reykjavík, his vessel a Norse shepherd, and for a couple of weeks he just herds sheep. It is exactly as easy as it looked outside of Bethlehem, and it's something to keep him occupied and under the radar while he makes plans.

Human senses are so dull compared to angelic ones. It's not difficult to keep his Grace contained in this body, tall for the times and vaguely handsome, but sometimes he wonders how long exactly he'll be able to stand this blurred vision, the muted hearing, the way he can no longer taste the clarity of the air itself. He listens to human voices and wonders for how long he can withstand the silence which had always previously been filled with the voices of angels lifted in perpetual praise of the Creator.

Gabriel discovers getting drunk very early on. It seems to help the isolation he feels now. It takes a lot to get him past the point of caring, but it's possible. He gains a reputation for a quick wit at the same time he establishes his name as a serious drinker, in the same dingy establishment, and he learns about the glow that comes from commanding attention on your own virtues and not because of Whose messages you carry. He finds that he likes being the center of attention.

Somewhere between the time he learns about the Norse pantheon and the time he decides to join it, Gabriel makes the very close acquaintance of a farmer's daughter with skin like milk and a laugh like a bonfire, bright and all-consuming. Flirting is easy; he's always had a way with words, after all. Sex is something new, though, and the first time he has an orgasm he almost flies clear out of his vessel-- because he could swear for a second he heard the voices of his brothers raised in song, tasted the soul inside the sweaty slender body on top of him.

The only thing more distracting than learning about sex is learning that he can do it by himself.

It's safe to say that if he learned about masturbation first, he never would have bothered with alcohol. He probably wouldn't have bothered with pretending to be a shepherd, for that matter. He definitely still would have bothered with the farmer's daughter, because as much fun as it is to do alone, it's even more fun to do with someone else-- but Brynja isn't always handy, and he has a whole lot of time to himself, time that passes a lot more quickly when liberally spiced with orgasms.

Eventually he learns how to wield his power less like an archangel and more like the god he's tricking everyone into believing he is. He grabs onto the role he's playing with both hands and revels in it, tricks everyone he comes across, leaves arrogant men ruined in his wake with the sound of his laughter ringing in their ears. Once Gabriel fools everyone into believing that he's Loki, he realizes that he could do this forever, gladly, and on the rare occasions when he misses the cohort of angels of which he used to be a part... well, he's found a sure-fire remedy to drive that longing into the background, not to be thought of for decades on end, if he can help it.


End file.
